WHEN THE BOOKS HAVE FALLEN BEHIND
The ATO Is Calling. The Books Are Behind. Start Here.
If your bookkeeping has fallen months — or even years — behind, the answer is not to panic and start clicking things in Xero.
We need to work out what has actually happened.
Then we work forward in the right order.
Before You Touch Anything in Xero
If the books are badly behind, resist the urge to start fixing, deleting or recoding transactions just so things look cleaner.
Instead, gather what you still have.
Don't tidy the evidence before we see the evidence. What is already there can help us work out what happened.
YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS ENDED UP HERE
Every Messy File Has a Story
Books do not usually become overdue because someone woke up one morning and decided to ignore the business.
Usually, something happened.
The business got busy.
The bookkeeping became confusing.
Someone thought the accountant was handling it.
A bookkeeper left.
BAS deadlines started slipping.
Then one unfinished month became three. Three became twelve. And suddenly opening Xero felt harder than ignoring it.
That Is Why We Tell Bookkeeping Stories
Some bookkeeping problems are easier to understand when you can see the story behind them.
Messy books.
Missed deadlines.
Confusing reports.
And the enormous relief that comes when somebody finally works through the mess properly.
The important part of the story is not how you got behind. It is what happens next.
The Books Are Behind.
Here's What Happens Next.
When bookkeeping has been left for months — or sometimes years — trying to fix everything at once usually makes the problem harder.
We start by working out what has actually happened, what can be relied upon and what needs to be rebuilt. Then we deal with the backlog in the right order.
Find Out What Is Actually Overdue
We establish the real position before we start changing anything.
- Which BAS lodgments are outstanding?
- How many months or years are affected?
- Is the bookkeeping itself behind?
- Are payroll or super records involved?
- Has the ATO already contacted you?
- Has anything already been lodged?
Work Out Whether the Books Can Be Trusted
A Xero or MYOB file can contain plenty of transactions and still not give us reliable numbers.
- Do the bank accounts reconcile?
- Are transactions missing or duplicated?
- Has GST been treated correctly?
- Does payroll agree with the bookkeeping?
- Are old balances still sitting in the file?
- Are supporting records missing?
Reconstruct the Missing History
Sometimes the bookkeeping cannot simply be “caught up.” Parts of the financial story have to be rebuilt.
- Bank and credit-card statements
- Supplier bills and receipts
- Customer invoices and payments
- Payroll and STP records
- Previous BAS lodgments
- The existing Xero or MYOB file
Deal With What Needs to Be Lodged
Once the underlying bookkeeping is in a position that can be relied upon, the outstanding BAS-related work can be dealt with.
- Bring the bookkeeping up to date
- Resolve relevant GST issues
- Prepare the information needed for BAS work
- Identify anything requiring another adviser
- Work through outstanding periods in the right order
You Don't Have to Work Out the Mess Before You Ask Us to Help With the Mess.
Tell us what you know.
Tell us what's overdue, when you last remember the books being reasonably up to date, and whether the ATO or your accountant has already been in contact.
We can start by working out the bookkeeping position from there.
Ook Lands Safely. Albert... Not So Much.
Once the panic stops and there is a proper plan, overdue bookkeeping becomes something we can actually work through.
We establish what is outstanding. We work out what can be trusted. We reconstruct what is missing. And we deal with the bookkeeping in the right order.
Which means Ook can finally stop trying to escape the ATO and get back onto solid ground.
They Need a Recovery Plan.
If your bookkeeping is overdue, the ATO is contacting you, BAS hasn't been lodged, or you simply don't know how far behind everything has become, you do not need to sort it all out before asking for help.
Tell us where things are now. We can help work out what happened, what needs attention first and what it will take to get the bookkeeping back under control.
The sooner we know what we're dealing with, the sooner we can start writing a much better ending.
Ook and Albert Have Lives Outside This Blog
Our characters turn the things that happen inside real businesses into stories that are a little easier to understand — and considerably harder to forget.
If Ook's emergency exit or Albert's unfortunate encounter with the carrot patch made you smile, you can meet them properly.